With the 2nd edition of the African Magic Viewers Choice Awards AMVCA just concluded loads and loads have been said about the fashion hits and misses, the categories and their winners. With movies like "Contract" and "Nairobi Half Life" dominating the show with 4 awards each, it boils down to the fact that we still have much to do in our industry, but I digress.
Having to watch the show at home was one of the things that totally sucked for me, but what's a girl got to do, I took a sit on my most comfy chair, made myself a plate of indomie, sardines and egg with a bottle of cold water and watched the programme on TV. So without further a do, I present, those parts of the show that rocked and those things that sucked:-
What Rocked!
Timing: We speak so often about "no African time" that I guess no one boarders stressing it any more. So when I learnt the live coverage of the AMVCA will kick of at 5pm, I obviously doubted it. I tuned in by 4:55pm, eagerly waiting and expecting not to get a 5pm start off, but alas, to my surprise, they started the red carpet show at 5pm
Red Carpet: Hoping to turn it up a notch, the AMVCA aimed to gain more traction by adding the red carpet show and have presenters host it. Seemed like our African celebrities expected this as most of them where stunners in their suits and dresses. Personal favorite for the women- Ufuoma Ejenobor, Kate Henshaw, Chioma Akpotha, Rita Dominc and Rukky Sander. For the men- Ebuka Uchendu, Alex Okubo, Mike Ezuruonye, Chidi Mokeme and IK Osakioduwa.
Hosts Red Carpet: For the red carpet hosts; Denrele and Uti, rocked! Denrele, not being one to conform to norms, brought the much needed energy and excitement to the red carpet. His line of questioning was indeed apt and he didn't dwell so much on the usual how do you feel about being nominated as well as what are you wearing kind of questions. For Uti, it was a mix of humor and games as he tried to get a fun side to the evening scoring the celebrities appearance and making them dance and liven up, which was seemingly ok and relaxing.
Awards Host: For the awards proper, all hail IK Osakioduwa, asides being a host, IK was also the voice over artist for the nominations roll-call and boy was impressed. His pronunciation of all the names Nigerian, Kenyan, Ghanaian and South African was perfect. It was clean, no stammering or mistakes. I also hand it to Vimbai Mutinhuri, she obviously looked and sounded better than her first time out and there was an effort on her part to top her last performance.
Performance: KAKADU the musical performed at the beginning and at the end. Though I didn't wait to see the end of the awards, what I saw at the beginning from the musical troupe was awesome. Benneth Ogbeiwi and his stage presence as well as his vocals brought it and I felt the goose bumps all over again. That totally rocked, as the awards organizers had been silent on who was performance and what to expect.
Speeches: My best speeches came from Elayne Okaya, "Best Make-up Artiste" winner for Nairobi Half Life. It was short, sharp and straight to the point. Also, "Best Actor in a Comedy" winner Ostia iheme gave a moving speech of using the arts to promote unity which was heart lifting.
Winners: I would be kidding if I say I wasn't excited for the "Contract" win click here for our review. Also, Desmond, snagging the "Best Supporting Actor" award for his role in Finding Mercy, totally rocked, he had the most powerful lines in the movie and It was awesome. (read our review here) Congrats to the others, I haven't watched them all but a million fans cannot be wrong right?
What Sucked!
Eku on the Red Carpet: While she held her own on technical aspects, against the nutter known as Denrele, she looked a tad bit confused. In trying to keep up with his madness, she didn't look prepared, seemed like she was constantly awaiting directives and calling for a break even while her co-host was still talking screamed a lack of coordination.
Osas Ighodaro joins the hosting team: Osas joining the team of IK Osakioduwa and Vimbai Mutinhuri was something I believe could have been avoided and kinda of sucked. She seemed overly excited and focused on what she was putting on. She didn't look serious or put together like the rest of her team. I was a bit put off by her pronunciation of names of presenters, one could tell that when she saw a name she could not pronounce from the prompter, she shrugged and didn't bother to call it out. One of her gaffes was speaking to her microphone and announcing "prompter please" like "if y'all thought that information was coming from my head, you must be crazy."
Microphone Check: The technical glitches that stemmed from the micro phones hitches totally sucked and made me cringe (to think there was a rehearsal the night before, oh sugar!) For the better part of the first categories and KAKADU performance, we where plagued with the microphone issues, the main hosts were holding microphones, there was the exchange of microphones and lets not forget the prompter issues which Osas gladly pointed out to us by speaking into her microphone reeked of lack of coordination.
Funke Akindele's Nominations: While I can't fault her for sending in her movies for the Best Actress in a Comedy category, after all if one no work, the others must work. But one actress in 3 different movies, for a particular category didn't scream of creativity to me.
Continuity: The biggest gaffe of the night, one that totally sucked was the presentation of the "Best Actress in Yoruba Category." After announcing it, what reeled out were the nominees in the Hausa category. Well, the presenters couldn't tell the difference as they went ahead to announce the Yoruba winner. I'm guessing heads should roll for the mighty mistake, but it also shows our presenting celebrities in the person of Monalisa Chinda and John Okafor weren't paying any attention to what was happening.
New Era Award: I feel it sucks and probably reeks that "The Meeting" or "Rita Dominic" wasn't nominated for any catergory and then she wins the new era award! I don't get it, someone please explain the meaning of the "New Era Award" Is it a make shift award for not being nominated for any category despite its acclaimed success?
The In- Betweens
Other Performances of the night: How do I put this, because I am kind of on the fence. while all the acts brought on to sing can belt out a note or two, or in some cases a tune, do we really want to watch you sing? Or watch you perform? #pharrell@theoscars2014! Nuff said...
Sponsorship: Much love to Amstel Malta the low sugar Malta drink for aligning themselves with the AMVCA awards. I liked the fact that their much publicized advert with Mikel Obi and Genevieve Nnaji was showcased during the awards. For next year, I suggest, the entire event be painted with your brand, use your colors, get all the AMVCA hosts to talk about your drink and leverage on all aspects as much as you can.
So there you have it, drop me a line if you feel I missed something or better still if you don't agree. For more information on the awards, fashion and interviews visit www.africamagic.dstv.com
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